11 Month Update

*She weighs right at 20 pounds.  She had that crazy growth spurt and ended up gaining a pound over a month's time.  Now she has leveled out and has been right at 20 the past couple of doctor visits.  I need to measure her length because I feel like she is so long!

*She is still in 9 month clothes and 12 month PJs, but that is about to change.  She is still pretty lean, but she is getting really long and her pants are becoming capris and her shirts are becoming 3/4 length!  Circo stuff from Target is made a little bit wider and shorter, so that stuff was put up this week.  Carter's stuff is pretty long and lean, so I think we'll be able to get a couple more weeks out of that stuff.  Then it is on to the 12 month stuff and moving on from the baby racks! : (  So much of this whole parenting gig is bittersweet!

*She is still in size 3 diapers and will be for a while.  We made the switch because we ran out of 2s and had a good few packs of 3s.  Superbowl Sunday we found out that she does just fine in size 2s still!  We were over at Les + Will's and I was getting her into her PJs so that we could put her down and hang out for a while.  I opened the diaper bag and wouldn't you know that I didn't have a single diaper.  Jack is in 5s, so I just asked Les for one that I could roll down and she remembed that she found a size 2 around.  So she found Anna's baby doll that had since been sporting the diaper, pulled off the diaper, and passed it on down.  Fit like a glove!

*We have a waver, high-fiver and a patty-caker!  Ever since she was really little, we have been waiting for her to clap and to play patty cake with us.  It was all to no avail.  She never even came close to wanting to clap or to patty cake.  So the waving came first and that was her first real intentional motion with her hands and then one day, she just started rolling them over and rolling them over!!  Now when she gets up in the morning, we get her out of her crib and she rolls it over and rolls it over!  Then Daddy stayed home from school with her and her latest ear infection and he worked with her all day and she learned how to high five.  Now she gives Mrs. Val and Mrs. Nita a high five in the afternoon when I pick her up from school!

*I've written about how we only let her have her paci in the crib and car seat.  She is so good now and when we pick her up in the morning, even if she holds on to her paci and bobo for another minute, I can tell her to put them back in the crib and she'll drop her bobo and take her paci out, play with it for a second, and then drop it in.  Hopefully it will stay this easy!

*She is doing great with her eating.  She is eating everything they have at school and anything we have for dinner.  There isn't anything that she is allergic to or won't eat.  She loves mandarin oranges, lima beans, ravioli (both Chef Boyardee and Gerber's), banana, mac + cheese, waffles, fish, and just about any meat.  She is kind of over Cheerios, but that is the only food that she'll just leave on her tray. 

*She has been getting 4 bottles a day for a good long while now.  She used to down all of them, but lately she has only been drinking 2 - 3 ounces.  Even at school they said she wasn't very interested.  I was thinking that I'd wait until 11 1/2 months and then start transitioning her.  Well since she isn't very interested in bottles now, I just figured I wouldn't wait.  So this week we got some whole milk and started mixing her bottles with formula and milk.  By the end of next week or the week after, bye bye formula - hello milk!  Jason and I talked about how we'd miss those few seconds of her laying with us to drink a bottle, but who says we can't do that with a sippy cup and milk until she won't let us!

*Poor thing is on her 5th antibiotic and 4th ear infection.  She finishes up her last dose tomorrow and I'm planning on taking her back next week for them to check her ears to see if they have cleared up and so we can have the tubes conversation.  Not that I want her to need surgery, but if that makes her feel better - I'm all for it!

*She is still sleeping like a champ.  The weekends she gets two good 2 - 3 hour naps (most of the time).  During the week, I thought she was trying to not take a nap when she gets home from school, but that was short lived.  When she falls asleep on our five minute trip home, I know that she needs to that extra hour or so.  If we have something to do, though, she can make it until bedtime around 6:30.  That is why she is such an incredible baby.  She goes with the flow so well and even if she is tired she can still be up and happy.

*Things are still about the same on the mobility front.  She is a crawling machine and she can cruise anywhere she needs to go.  She has been standing up for a few seconds here and there and the other night she went from the chair to the ottoman without holding on for a second. 

*I am excited that language is getting closer.  I'm ready for her to be able to say the simple things instead of fussing when she wants something.  She doesn't really fuss, but I can't handle a whiner so I'd like to curb that as soon as possible.  Since sign language never did really sink in, I'm ready for some communication!  Even now she'll repeat stuff back to you that is the same length and intonation and she is so proud of herself. 

*We flipped her car seat!  (Yes, I know that there are very strong opinions about this subject and I support everyone having their own opinion, but this is ours!)  She has always been the best riding baby.  She never had any trouble being in her seat, taking good naps in the car, or entertaining herself.  Then at about 10 months, she would fuss every time she was in the car (until she fell asleep).  She would try to turn around to see us and she hated not being able to see everything.  For her birthday we wanted to get her her car seat and we are so thankful that both of our parents chipped in and our sweet girl now has a fancy-shmancy car seat!!  We got her a Graco Argos in the Eliza because it will be with her until she can sit in a regular seat with just a seat belt YEARS down the road.  So it is hot pink and black and so cute!  She LOVES facing the front and she just watches everything around her.  It is also so much easier to get her in and out because she isn't laying down so much. 

Ok, I think that is all...for now!  I can't believe the next month update will ber her 1 YEAR!!  Happy 11 Months, sweet girl!!

I LOVE BEEFARONI!!  (We found out very quickly that beefaroni is saved for a weekend night when we have time for clean up!)

Bumping up and down in my little red wagon!  Take Caroline and the boys for a walk!

 She went to the beach for the first time this month!  She LOVED finding the shells and eating them.  I'm thinking by the time the summer rolls around it is going to be a whole different ball game!  She is going to be so fun!

Trying to get her monthly picture and this is one of her MANY expressions that I was able to capture.  I'm telling you - this girl is something else!

Seriously, when did she get so big?

Roll 'em over, roll 'em over!

Happy 11 Months!!

When it rains…

This week has been a bit of a rough week.  We feel like we are dealing with a lot right now and it feels like it is pouring on top of us.

We are going through some stuff with Harley right now.  I don’t want to go into it because I am not looking for people to give me their opinion on what they think we need to do.  We are dealing with it day by day and in the end it will come down to what Jason + I are comfortable doing.  With that being said – it is still a frustration and drains on us emotionally.

Caroline went back to the doctor on Tuesday because she had a 103 fever at school.  Ear infection #4 has hit her pretty hard.  This is her fourth in two months.  5th antibiotic (even though this one is a repeater) prescribed to her since Dec 9th.  I HATE when she doesn’t feel good.  Bless her heart.  She is so good at taking medicine, but she is starting to get really frustrated with not feeling well.  We are doing what we can (which is not much!) and making sure she is as comfortable and well rested as she can be.  Luckily yesterday she was back to her old self and when we go back in two weeks for them to check her to make sure they cleared up, we’ll have the tubes conversation.  I just want my baby to feel better!

Jason got into an accident a couple of weeks ago (he is ok and it was the other girls fault – she got a traffic ticket and Ja has to go testify in court against her) and we became a one car family.  It worked out alright and we all piled up in the mornings and I made my three stops and then we did it again in the afternoon.  We were very lucky to have at least one car to help us out, but the insurance process has been less than wonderful.  (Side note – we picked Ja’s truck up Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning we were both a little bit sad that we didn’t get to spend that extra 10 minutes together as a family.  It’s funny how when you look for it life’s rough patches have some good stuff in them!)

I went to the ENT yesterday to find some answer to my chronic sinus infections.  I finally started going to a regular doctor who sees me when I am sick and he noticed how often I was there.  They told me my options are to get allergy tested or have surgery to widen my sinus – so my allergy testing will be in two weeks!  Hopefully then we can get this mess under control.  Between being a mom, a wife, and a teacher – I don’t have time to worry about me!!

Through all of this – I feel like today is one of the best days in a while.  I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and I was complaining about how dirty my house was and how frustrating that is.  So after my doctors appointment and being outside in the sunshine and just doing something different, I went to go pick C up and when I put her down once we got home, I had the cleaning bug like crazy.  I spent C’s nap cleaning the entire house.  I felt so much better after doing that.  Then we got C up, fed her some dinner, spent some time with her, and then put her to bed.  Ja and I watched Grey’s and some Jersey Shore and spent some good time just hanging out together.  It was 12:30 when we went to bed and C got up at 6 this morning (instead of her usual 7), so I thought I was going to be a monster today.  But the clean house (and knowing I don’t have to do it this weekend), spending good QT with Ja, and getting to rock C this morning for a while before she went down for a nap (not kidding, she took a nap from 6:45 until 7:45 – she coughed herself awake and she was exhausted after breakfast) is giving me all the energy I need for today.  Not to mention that it is Friday, it is a BEAUTIFUL day, and I have a full weekend to spend with my sweet (11 month old!) girl!  I just need one of these every once in a while and I’ll be able to get through just about anything.  Hopefully the sun will come out soon and our rain will go away for a little while! 

Don't Be Rash

These past couple of months have been pretty rough on Caroline.  (And let me just go ahead and say here that I understand that when I say 'rough' that things could be A LOT worse.  We are very blessed that she is as healthy as she is, but no matter what - you don't want to see your child hurting and uncomfortable.)  She has had a runny nose and a pretty good cough since the beginning of November.  I took her to the doctor just to make sure she didn't have some sort of upper respiratory infection, but it was just a virus.  At her 9 month check up a few weeks later she didn't sound any better to me and this time they found bilateral ear infections.  Not that I want Caroline to hurt at all, but I was glad something was there so that they could give her something to make her feel better.  The doctor gave her amoxicillin and after a few days, things were looking up.  Right after Christmas, her cough was still pretty strong and her nose was raw.  I took her back to the doctor and they looked and once again, bilateral ear infections.  They gave her cefdinir (omnicef) and after a few days of that, she seemed to feel better.  We finished out that medicine and things were alright for a few days.  Then around the end of Christmas break we saw her pulling at her ears.  We knew this was a big deal because through the previous two infections she never showed any sort of symptom as far as pulling on them.  So I made an appointment and took her back to the doctor and she found that her right ear was infected again.  Since the left had cleared up they were pretty sure that the antibiotics were working and that it wasn't a successive infection that was not clearing up.  So that was the good news.  The doctor prescribed augmentin this time since it is a little stronger than what she had had so far.  She started that medicine and we headed to Wilmington and stayed there for a long weekend. 

While we were in the car on the way back, Caroline was sweating and couldn't get comfortable.  We just chalked it up to her hating to ride backwards and the heat being on in the car since it was so cold outside.  The next morning Jason went to go get her up and called me in there.  She had a few bumps on her neck and behind her ears and another cluster of them around her diaper line.  She has SUCH sensitive skin and I figured since she was sweating that it was probably heat rash.  We both decided that was what it was and that she would be fine going to school.  When I walked in, I showed them the bumps and told them that it was most likely just heat rash and both of her teachers agreed with me because they know how sensitive her skin is.  I went to work and about 3:15 one of her teachers called me and told me that I would probably want to come and get her because the spots have now begun to spread to her face.  I hung up, grabbed my stuff, and I was out of there!  I called and was able to get an appointment at 4:30.  So I got Caroline from school and when I walked in she looked pathetic!  She was crawling around and playing, but she had welts all over her face and arms (and under her clothes, but I couldn't see them yet)!  We were all talking about what we thought it was and they were thinking it was chicken pox.  Great - I'm that mom that sends her kid with the pox to school and infects everyone!  I was hoping and praying that wasn't it.

When we got to the pediatrician's office the nurse came in and weighed C (she had gained a pound in a month!  Talk about a serious growth spurt!) and she asked if she was having trouble breathing.  That's when I started to worry.  I told her no and she left the room and soon the doctor was in with us.  She looked her over, felt the welts, and told me that they were not chicken pox, but that she was having an allergic reaction to the augmentin. 

So, what we know now is that she is allergic to all antibiotics in the penicillin family.  She will get hives and a nasty skin rash, but not anaphylaxia - which is good to know!  So in the future if she HAS to get some sort of penicillin it is not life threatening.

Here are a few pics of the adventure:

The bumps first appeared on Wednesday morning.  This is Caroline on Thursday morning when she looked her worst.  Luckily, Jason was able to stay home with her so that she could get some good sleep and some good Benadryl!  Her face was so swollen - it was AWFUL!  From the pictures you will see that this never kept her from eating, so I knew it wasn't TOO serious!

This is what her body looked like on Thursday night.  She got hives that were raised and red with white centers.  Then she got the nasty skin rash that is a side effect of the amoxicillin.  All over her body she had a huge red rash that had purple centers.  Those were really scary to me because I didn't know if they would totally go away or leave a scar of some kind.

And here she is on Sunday night totally back to normal!  Her skin looks so good and you can tell that she feels so much better!  She is playing and laughing and smiling - which we didn't see a lot of those first few days!

Whew...I'm glad that is over!!

10.5 Month Update

I know I usually do monthly updates, but these past few weeks have been chocked full of new-ness and I didn't want to forgot to get these down. 

We have a waver on our hands!  We have been moving her hand for her for a while, but finally about a week ago she started waving and now she waves at everything!  She waves to her crib in the morning, she waves to Mommy or Daddy when we are in the room, she waves to Mrs. Val and Mrs. Nita in the morning when we get to school, and just about anything else that crosses her path.  It is PRECIOUS!

She can FINALLY use a sippy cup.  I know I've been saying for a while that she could use a sippy cup, but in reality, she just knew how to suck out of it if we held it up to her mouth.  Within the past couple of weeks she has figured out how to pick it up, hold it with both hands, and hold it so that she can get the water out.  So I can now say that she can officially use a sippy cup!

She is all done with baby food.  At 10 months I posted that she had had her first day with real big girl food at school, but that has gone full force since then.  Her teachers say that she does better with eating than a lot of the 18 month - two year olds in her class.

The poor thing is on her third antibiotic for her third ear infection.  This is the first time that she has really started to show us that her ear hurts.  It either hurts or it feels weird since all the fluid is in there, but it is weird enough or painful enough to get her up in the middle of the night.  (Secretly, though, I don't mind her getting up!  I get to rock her for a bit while she lays on my chest and I LOVE that.  I don't want it to happen all the time or for her to hurt - ever - but I'll look at the positive of that one!)

She had a crazy growth spurt right when she turned 10 months.  She could not be filled up.  The dinner one night that gives you an example of how hungry she was - 1/4 can of green beans, 3/4 banana, 1 cup of mandarin oranges and 6 boneless wings (with the breading pulled off and the breast meat given to her)!!  I had 7 boneless wings that night and was stuffed.  She would eat a meal like this and then drink a full 6 ounce bottle.  She could not be filled up!  That could be the reason for her gaining over 1/2 a pound in 2 weeks!  The eating has slowed down a little bit and she's back to eating a good amount for her, but then only drinking 2 - 4 ounces of her bottle.

She has really started dancing lately.  When she is standing, her right leg starts grooving like she is Elvis.  When she is on her knees she'll bump up and down.  I love watching her face while she does this.

Alright, that's enough for a mini update! 

10 Month Update

*A week or so ago she was still just under19 pounds.  They way she is eating right now she is in a serious growth spurt, so I think she’ll shoot up soon!

*She is still in 9 month clothes, 12 month pajamas, and size 3 diapers.

*Over Christmas break she was sleeping like a champ.  13 hour nights, 2 3 – 4 hour naps during the day.  Now that we are back in the swing of things, she is back to napping once at school and so far this week she has only taken one nap in the afternoon once she gets home.  I know she needs a lot of sleep, but I would LOVE it if she took just one really long nap at school and then we get to spend all afternoon with her once we get home.

*She is on her second antibiotic for ear infections.  I don’t know if they are new or still the same ones that never got cleared up.  Since she has been on this medicine her cough has just about gone away and she seems much happier.  Maybe she’ll be healthy for a little bit!

*She is starting to cruise around on the furniture now and she is getting braver and braver every day with what she’ll do.  She will walk if you are holding her hands a little bit, but she would rather drop down and crawl.  Like I said before, walking is not something I’m going to push.  She’ll get there in her own sweet time and until then we’ll have a baby that we can still catch!

*She is completely finished with baby food, even at school.  I told them that she had had no baby food over the break and she is eating anything we are.  They started the first day back giving her a regular lunch just cut up into small pieces and she has done a great job.  They were very impressed with how well she already feeds herself.  Home girl does love to eat!

*She is starting to experiment with showing emotion.  She is figuring out that she can fuss to get what she wants and she we are finding out there is no in between.  She will be so happy for the longest time, but the second she gets hungry or tired, there is no doubt what is happening.  You better get this girl some food or her bed – quick!  She is also showing when she prefers someone over someone else.  Sometimes she’ll want mommy and sometimes she wants daddy.

*She LOVES a bath and is figuring out that she can crawl around and pull up on the sides.  We are working on the whole sitting down thing (especially since she slipped and hit her eye pretty good the other night).  She loves splashing and playing with all of her bath toys.

*She does a pretty good job of listening when we tell her no.  She certainly does know what that means.

*She never has picked up on sign language.  We still use it all the time, but she shows little interest.  We are trying to get her to say the words or sign the words she that she doesn’t do so much fussing when she wants or needs something.

*Her paci is for her crib or the car only.  Now that she knows what it is, I can see how easy it would be to stick it in her mouth when she is fussing.  We are working really hard to not give in so that we don’t have such a battle when we need to take it away later.

*We are down to only a month and a half left of formula.  Then we are on the whole milk train!

I cannot believe that she is already 10 months old.  This year had flown by but it has been SO MUCH FUN.  Every day she is learning and growing and it is so fun to watch and be a part of that.

Exploring the bathroom before bathtime!

She is so proud that she can stand up in her crib.  How about walking into that every morning to start your day!

Over break my college roommates and I got together to hang out with our best friend, Patrick, who is out in LA doing big thangs!  Josh and Katie came to hang out and got to spend some time with Caroline.  Josh and Caroline have the same birthday!

Caroline never was quite sure about Patrick!

She always does love Aunt Michelle, even though she is still staring at Patrick here.

Me and my three babies.

Hey, guys!

Had to include this because I think it is hilarious.  That child has more expression in her face than most people have in their entire bodies!

The best 10-month old girl anyone could ever ask for!  We love you, Scootapoot!

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was crazy like always, but with an added bonus since it was Caroline’s first Christmas!

School got out on the 20th and we ended up heading down to Jacksonville on the 22nd.  We spent a lot of time with his grandma and unfortunately she passed away on the morning of Christmas Eve.  It has been a tough year for Jason’s mom and their entire family. 

Through it all we were about to enjoy a nice Christmas with Jason’s family.  Jason’s mom cooked an Italian dinner that was delicious and we all got to open lots of really nice presents.

Mike and Anita

The Christmas tree with ALL the presents!

Matt, Tiffany, and Alex with his guitar!

Caroline had lots of presents to open.  She helped a little bit, but then we opened these blocks and she was done.  She played with these while Mommy and Daddy finished opening for her!

Here Caroline was being a little elf and helping Grandpa Mike!

Jason was stoked when he opened his…

Xbox 360!

On Christmas Eve we loaded up to head back to Winston.  It is really important to us to be able to be in our house on Christmas morning so that Santa can come to visit Caroline.  Even the stomach flu wasn’t going to stop us from giving Caroline a great first Christmas! (I got it Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and spread the wealth through my whole family over the next week or so – like Greg said, the gift that keeps on giving!)

Putting out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer!

Santa came and left presents under the tree…

and filled our stockings!

Sassypants waking up on her first Christmas morning!

Santa ate the cookies, drank the milk, and the reindeer ate the carrots!

Look, Daddy!

Reading why Jesus is the reason for the season!

Digging into that stocking!

Let the games begin!

Sitting amidst her loot!

Santa was good to Jason and me, also, but let’s be honest, Christmas is not about us anymore!

Christmas night my mom, dad, Greg, and Michelle came up.  Jeff, Johnna, and their girls had been in Winston for a while.  My whole family came over to our house on the 26th for the Collins Christmas.  What a crazy bunch we have nowadays!

The Collins Family – all 15 of us!

Mimi and Papa with the grandkids!

Penelope and Jack

If she is not the cutest thing!

Nia and Anna taking a break from the madness and watching some cartoons.

Uncle Jeffro getting some snuggle time with Caroline

Cheers to Jeffro and Johnna who got ENGAGED a few weeks ago!!

The Fro Fam!

Papa reading with Caroline + Jack

Papa getting some Sweet P love!

Now it’s Mimi’s turn!

Caroline and Uncle G!

After all the gift opening was completed (we drew names for the five little ones and then did a Dirty Santa for the 10 big people…it was perfect!) Ja started a roaring fire on the back porch and everyone toasted up some marshmallows for some delicious s’mores!

Caroline was IN LOVE with s’mores.  How can you not be!

That wraps up our crazy Christmas adventure!  Merry Christmas, everyone!